Mitch Smith

Election Dispatches: Democrats Notch a Win as the Supreme Court Tosses a Republican Gerrymander in Missouri

The legal wrangling over a congressional map redrawn by Republicans has election officials, candidates and voters scrambling before November.

Missouri’s Supreme Court said a map redrawn to help Republicans could not be used in November and said voters should decide on the new boundaries.

The charges are a rare instance of President Trump’s Justice Department accusing a federal agent of breaking the law while on the job.

The court said a map redrawn to benefit Republicans could not be used in November and said voters should decide on the new boundaries. The state attorney general vowed to appeal the decision.

The state had sought to have the agent extradited from Texas to answer charges in Minneapolis related to an on-duty shooting that wounded an immigrant.

Voters in Kansas rejected a proposal to start electing Supreme Court justices, while Missourians declined to make it harder to amend the State Constitution.

Opponents of the new map, which was redrawn to benefit Republicans, had gathered signatures seeking a statewide vote. The issue could now move to the courts.

In a race to be governor of Kansas, State Senator Cindy Holscher defeated a fellow Democratic lawmaker who was endorsed by the current governor, Laura Kelly.

In a conservative state with a history of electing Democratic governors, the debate over which brand of Democrat can win sounds different.